Publications

2025
Working Paper

Public Displays of Alignment: Firm Speech in Autocratic Regimes

By: Joris Mueller, Jaya Y. Wen and Cheryl Wu

Political speech by firms is increasingly common around the world. This paper examines the government as an important, yet understudied, audience for such speech, focusing on how Chinese firms rhetorically align with the state. We introduce novel, general, and... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Economic Systems; Power and Influence; Government Administration; Policy; China

Read Now

January 2009
Background Note

Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China: From Pawnshops to Private Equity

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides an analysis of why informal financial networks and institutions still play an extremely important role in China's economy in the 21st century. Although China has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it still suffers from a weak... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Networks; China

28 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 28, 2007

Working Papers Diversification of Chinese Companies: An International Comparison Authors: Joseph P.H. Fan, Jun Huang, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Troy D. Smith, and Mengxin Zhao Abstract Purpose—This paper provides a systematic comparison of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

From Cradle to Heaven: Taikang Insurance Group

By: William C. Kirby, Shu Lin, John P. McHugh and Yuanzhuo Wang

Taikang Insurance Group was a leading Chinese insurance and financial services institution. It operated in the insurance, asset management, and health and senior care industries. Due to China’s underdeveloped social welfare state, Taikang saw an opportunity for the... View Details

Keywords: Health; Insurance; Strategy; Insurance Industry; China

22 Jul 2021
News

China’s Push to Purge Organized Crime Casts Shadow Over Private Businesses

24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

Publications February 2015 University of Chicago Press Political Standards By: Ramanna, Karthik Abstract—There are certain institutions underlying our modern market-capitalist system that are largely outside the interest and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

Why the US-China Tariff Standoff Hurts American Companies More

"We are the 'piggy bank' that everyone wants to take advantage of," President Donald Trump told his 61 million Twitter followers in May, days after he hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. "NO... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Retail; Manufacturing; Steel

2025
Chapter

Marjorie Yang Mun Tak 楊梅德：Entrepreneur and Innovator

By: William C. Kirby

Chinese Encounters with America tells the stories of twelve women and men whose American experiences transformed their lives and influenced China’s trajectory, with a particular focus on the period after Beijing and Washington established full diplomatic relations in... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; China

Find at Harvard

24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

Charting the US-China Trade War: What Does 'Made in Vietnam' Mean?

Exports from Vietnam to the United States have grown significantly since America’s trade war with China began in 2018. At the same time, Vietnam has been importing more Chinese goods. This has led many to question: is “Made in Vietnam”... View Details

Keywords: by Ana Elena Azpúrua; Manufacturing; Shipping

May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Julia Kelley and Nathaniel Schwalb

As of early 2018, five U.S. technology companies—Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft—were among the largest companies in the world. Similarly, three Chinese technology firms—Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, or BAT—had emerged as global players due in part to the... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Ventures; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Safety; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry

06 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Are the Olympics a Catalyst for China Reforms?

there are several areas where there are differences of opinion between the authorities in China and others, inside and outside China, about norms for social and political discourse. The main obstacle, I feel, is that there is no mechanism... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2023
Book

Precarious Ties: Business and the State in Authoritarian Asia

By: Meg Rithmire

Developing Asia has been the site of some of the last century's fastest growing economies as well as some of the world's most durable authoritarian regimes. Many accounts of rapid growth alongside monopolies on political power have focused on crony relationships... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Systems; Crime and Corruption; China; Indonesia; Malaysia

29 Aug 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Harley-Davidson’s Management Do?

CasPhotography What Can the Harley-Davidson Case Teach Us About Managing in a Politicized Environment? The advice to Harley-Davidson’s management from respondents of this month’s column is to (1) ensure that politics doesn’t deter the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Auto

June 2010 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Hang Lung Properties and the Chengdu Decision (A)

By: John D. Macomber, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Keith Chi-Ho Wong

A residential real estate developer competes in a heated auction for a prime retail development site in the interior of China during the 2009 boom. Total project cost might be in excess of $1 billion U.S. for over 4,000,000 square feet of building. Hang Lung Properties... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Return; Geographic Location; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Infrastructure; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Chengdu

April 2021
Case

The Clean Network and the Future of Global Technology Competition

By: Meg Rithmire and Courtney Han

In May 2019, amidst of an ever-worsening trade war between the U.S. and China, President Donald Trump added Chinese telecom giant Huawei to the Department of Commerce’s “entity list,” essentially forbidding American firms from doing business with the company. Huawei,... View Details

Keywords: 5G; Telecommunications; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Trade; Competition; International Relations; Telecommunications Industry; China

13 May 2014
Op-Ed

The Alibaba Effect

Alibaba is about to make history with the first genuine mega-IPO of a Chinese entrepreneur-founded company in the United States. The numbers are historic as well—an anticipated market capitalization of some $200 billion. It comes to the... View Details

Keywords: by Bill Kirby & Warren McFarlan; Retail

05 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 5

strategy, decision making, and innovation. Download the paper (HBS only): http://intranet.hbs.edu/dept/drfd/papers/1011/11-099.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsChina Construction America (A): The Road Ahead Regina M. Abrami and Weiqi ZhangHarvard Business School Case... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Teaching Interest

IFC Asia: China's Belt & Road Initiative

By: Willy C. Shih

The course objective is to provide students perspectives and insight into one of the major political and economic development programs of China – its Belt and Road Initiative, a strategy that involves infrastructure development and investments in countries spanning... View Details

Keywords: China; Globalization; Trade; Infrastructure; China; Southeast Asia; South Asia; Central Asia

November 2006 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Li Ka-Shing and the Growth of Cheung Kong

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony J. Mayo and Mark Benson

Events in the history of Cheung Kong's growth reveal how Li Ka-Shing applied his skills as a "first-class noticer" to complex political and socioeconomic environments. While Li's determination to succeed is legendary, so are his skills in reading and responding to the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Portfolio; Business History; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Hong Kong